Sheena's POV
"I know someone who has a crush on you too, like patay na patay siya sa'yo." I told Gwen in the middle of teaching Miggy how to read.
Her forehead immediately showed lines. She's curious.
"Okay lang ba na i-follow ka niya sa social media accounts mo? She's been stalking you kasi eh." I scratched my back while Miggy looked at me and rolled his eyes. Ang moody talaga nitong batang 'to kahit kailan.
"I rarely use my social media accounts. Hmmm, pero okay naman siguro." she replied.
I fished my phone to my pocket and smiled sheepishly. "Okay, ifa-follow ka na niya ha?" I said and she nodded her head.
Instagram: You started following @ gwennn_apuli
Twitter: You started following @ i.am.gwen.apuli
Facebook: You sent a friend request to Gweneth Apuli
"There, she followed you na." I said at binaba ang phone ko para bigyan ng atensyon si Miggy.
I heard her gasped and on my peripheral vision, I saw her shook her head and smiled. In the first place, bakit ko naman ibibigay si Gwen sa iba? Ako lang dapat. All mine.
I suddenly feel giddy remembering the moments we had yesterday. Today is Sunday and rest day. Because I was absent the other day, I attended yesterday's activity in the hospital, I can say that it went well. I stuck with Gweneth the whole while Miggy and Brianna were with us.
My older brother will go home later at paniguradong masesermonan na naman ako for extending my stay in the hospital. One absent is equals to 3 make up for me to finish my punishment.
Speaking of punishment, my parents asked me to adopt a pet too. Nagtataka nga ako kung bakit kailangan pa 'yon samantalang lagi ko namang kasama ang mga kaibigan ko. They're like pets na nga eh.
I was startled when dad sat down beside me. He is wearing his usual teasing smile, alam kong balak niya na namang sirain ang moment ko.
"How's my favorite daughter?" he asked.
I shook my head. "Dad, ako lang po daughter mo. Unless my iba ka pang anak sa labas?" I asked.
I head dad's loud laugh. "Ikaw talagang bata ka! Gagawa ka pa ng issue. Sige, I'll revise it. How's my favorite chaotic offspring?"
"I'm doing fine, daddy. Stop watching Lucifer nga, nagagaya mo na 'yong offspring na term eh it doesn't sound good." I protested. He's rewatching Lucifer for how many times already at malapit ko nang sabihin kay kuya na huwag na bayaran ang Netflix account nila.
"Don't tell your mom. Inaantay ko nga makatulog 'yon para makanuod ako, ang dami niyang side comments eh." he smirks. "Oh, the dragon's here." he whispered.
"If mom's the Dragon, you must be Donkey." I whispered, teasing him. Referring to Shrek movie. Dad wasn't able to tease me back because mom's already standing in front of us.
"Shee, you were absent the other day? Akala pa naman namin matatapos mo na punishment mo." Mom told me while signaling dad to be serious at this moment. Alam kasi ni mommy na hindi naman ako natatakot kay daddy dahil kadalasan ay dinodog show lang namin ang isa't-isa.
"Mom, I was sick kaya. Look oh, I'm matamlay pa." I told her as I tried to do a sleepy eyes. I celebrated internally when I convinced mom about my alibi.
"Alright, baby. Tell us if you need something, okay?" She said and kissed my forehead. They're both wearing office attires at mukhang may meeting pa sila. My dad is an Engineer and owns a firm while mommy is an Architect. The pressure's on me because my older brother is successful now too. But they never made me feel like they're pressuring me. Like my friends, they also knew about my gender preference and accepted me wholeheartedly. Open naman kaming magkakaibigan kapag gender ang usapan pero minsan natatahimik si Maloi. I'm waiting for her to open up pero hindi ko rin maasahan sarili ko sa advice. I'm a good listener with a little bit of teasing.
Mikha's life is already set before she enters College, she'll handle their family business. Colet wanted to take different path by pursuing Architecture two years from now. Maloi doesn't have plans yet but I know she'll be successful too.
While me? I don't know. When I was a kid, I wanted to be a pilot pero paano pag wala ako sa mood to manipulate a plane? Baka mapunta kami sa Bermuda Triangle and might disappear. Baka mamiss ako ng friends ko. I used to dream of being an Artist too but I might laugh at serious moments lang.
Nagpaalam na sila mommy and daddy sa akin para pumunta sa office. Dad's holding his cheeks kasi sumasakit ng ngipin niya.
Ngipin. Dentistry. Dentist. Doctor of Dental Medicine. Hmm, what if it's my calling? I shook my head, ang corny naman ng calling. Not so me. But Dentistry is not bad as a profession, right? I can make dentures for toothless. I can clean my friends' teeth tapos tatawanan ko sila kasi ang papangit na ng ngipin nila kapag tumanda kami. I can earn money from them!
I was in the middle of making fun of my future profession when someone slapped my head hard. Babanat sana ako ng sapak but I saw my older brother boredly looking at me with take out foods on his hands.
"Tinatawanan ako ng colleagues ko. You're too playful daw tapos I lack energy, they even asked me kung may bulate ka sa tiyan. What messed did you get into again?" he said.
"Good morning to you too, kuya! Ang ganda ng salubong mo." I told him. Kinuha ko agad ang mga pagkain na dala niya.
"Answer me, Shee." he shook his head and sat beside me.
"I didn't do something chaotic. I was playing with the kids lang." I defended myself.
"At ano 'yong nababalitaan ko na you're bothering this girl Gweneth Apuli? Trust me, you don't want to be closer to that girl." he sharply said while staring at the tv in front of us.
"What do you mean?" I asked curiously.
"J-just ... save yourself. I know you know that you can eventually find other girls na pwede mong guluhin." he smiled and ruffled my hair.
"I don't get it. Make your statements clearer, bro." I said, getting irritated now. I don't like it when people are dictating me what to do. At least not with Gwen.
"Aren't you wondering why she's close with almost all the patients there?" That's when realization hit me. Oo nga, kilala na niya halos lahat pati ang mga organizers.
But what my older brother said made my me feel pang in my chest immediately. "Because she used to be a patient too. Metastatic melanoma, meaning melanoma that spread or metastasized before diagnosis. If you don't want yourself to get hurt if ever her sickness come back, don't get yourself to be close to her."
But I shook my head. Eh ano kung masaktan ako? Eh ano kung may sakit siya o bumalik sakit niya? It doesn't make her less of a person and it doesn't change the fact that I like her.
"Guess what, brother? I don't care at all." I said and walked out, leaving my brother in the living room.
The next day, I went to the hospital early for the activity. I brought protein-rich foods such as eggs, low fat milk, chocolate bar, and nuts. I researched about metastic melanoma last night kaya napuyat ako.
Kahit na gulong-gulo na si Gweneth dahil sa dami kong dalang pagkain ay kinuha niya pa rin ito. I bit my lower lip to hide my smile because of that. She never failed to make me feel the butterflies on my stomach every time. Ganito pala ang pakiramdan na may magustuhan.
"Y-you like me, right?" she asked out of nowhere. The activity for today went well and it lasted for about 4 hours. Nasa cafeteria kami ngayon para ubusin iyong mga dala kong pagkain.
"Yes." I quickly replied while arranging the foods. Malay ko kung may OCD din siya, mabuti na 'yong sigurado ako.
"Why aren't you messaging me?" she bluntly asked again and with that, I got stiff.
Naghihintay ba siya ng message ko? My lips automatically formed a smirk causing her to look away.
"I see that you like messages. Mamaya ka sa akin." I said at hindi na inabala ang pagkunot ng noo niya.
In the middle of enjoying our foods, I suddenly recalled about my parents' second punishment.
"Do you like cats, Gwen?" I asked. She looked up to me and saw her eyes became bright.
"Yes! All kinds of cats, kahit nga 'yong mga stray cats eh." she laughs.
"If you will give a name for a boy kitten, what would it be?" I asked.
She paused for a few minutes, thinking of a name.
"Nael." she suddenly uttered. "Gift of God."
I smiled. She never failed to amaze me. This girl will be the death of me.
I immediately messaged my friends to pick up the cat that I was eyeing yesterday. It was a black tuxedo persian, 2 months old. Nagreklamo pa sila kung bakit kung sino pa raw 'yong mas matatanda, sila pa inuutusan ng bunso. Of course they only agreed when I promised them a dinner sponsored by me.
"Okay, then. You'll gonna be Nael's mom too."
Seeing her shock face, I immediately took a photo of her. Medyo nakaside eye pa siya while holding her spoon and fork.
May bago na akong lockscreen!
Nael. Gift of God. And then there's Gwen, God's special gift for me.